The invention relates to a process for the production of a floor covering, especially of a covering for private and public areas. It is meant for floors in living areas, kitchens, bathrooms, but also for terraces and balconies. In the public sector, it is meant for industrial-, storage- and commercial spaces, but also for doctors' offices, hospitals, schools and sports areas.
A process for the production of such floor coverings is known, wherein at first granulated material and a hardenable plastic binding means are mixed to a paste-like mass. Subsequently this mass is evenly spread over a surface and smoothed. After the hardening of this mass, a floor results which, due to the structure of its surface, is practically maintenance-free. In this known process, the granulated material consists of quartz gravel with a diameter of several millimeters.
Since this known type of floor completely covers and seals the substrate to which it is applied, it is required that the floor covering be applied only after the substrate has dried out completely. However, during construction it often happens that floors are laid out before the substrate, for instance plaster, is sufficiently dry. Sometimes, in order to save time, construction cannot be postponed for the length of time required for sufficient drying. When the known covering is spread on such a substrate which has not been dried sufficiently, blisters and cracks will shortly appear from evaporating moisture which causes the initially even and smooth surface of the floor covering to be damaged.
Among others, the invention has the object to improve the known process for the production of such a floor covering, so that it will become possible to apply the covering, even when the substrate has not sufficiently dried out.
Furthermore, it is desirable to use the known process also in cases of floating applications, whereby the covering is not bonded to the substrate, but is actually completely separated therefrom, due to the application of a separating layer.